MANILA, Philippines (Updated: 1:32 p.m.) — The Supreme Court said power supply deals submitted by distribution utilities before June 30, 2015 must undergo a competitive selection process, a form of public bidding, after finding that the Energy Regulatory Commission committed grave abuse of discretion when it put off this rule.

The SC said the ERC committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in postponing the competitive selection process, a form of public bidding for the purchase of electricity by distribution utilities, the SC PIO explained. The bidding requirement aims to protect consumers.

The SC Public Information Office said in a statement Monday that the SC en banc voted 10-2 last Friday and ruled that: “All PSA applications submitted by the DUs (distribution utilities) on or after 30 June 2015 were required to comply with the CSP (competitive selection process) in accordance with 2015 [Department of Energy] Circular.”

The 2015 DOE circular, issued following the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, mandates all distribution utilities to undergo a competitive selection process in securing Power Supply Agreements. It became effective on June 30, 2015.

But the SC said the ERC issued a resolution on Oct. 20, 2015 stating that “pending the issuance by the ERC of a prescribed CSP, a DU may adopt any accepted form of CSP.”

A later resolution issued by the ERC set the cut-off date for compliance of the competitive selection process requirement to Nov. 7, 2015, instead of June 30, 2015.

“Thereafter on March 15 2016, the ERC issued ERC Resolution No. 1. This time, the said resolution restated that the effectivity of the SP requirement for PSAs is on April 30, 2016 instead of Nov. 7, 2015, as previously set in ERC Resolution No. 13,” the SC PIO said.

Bidding rule delayed for 305 days

Due to the two ERC resolutions, the implementation of the CSP was postponed for a total of 305 days, from June 30, 2015 to April 29, 2016.

“The ERC’s delegated authority is limited to implementing or executing Competitive Selection Process (CSP) in accordance with the 2015 DOE Circular, not postponing CSP so as to freeze CSP for at least 20 years, effectively suspending CSP for one entire generation of Filipinos,” the ruling, penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, read.

“The delegated authority to implement CSP does not include the authority to postpone or suspend CSP for 20 years, beyond the seven-year terms of office of the ERC Commissioners postponing or suspending the CSP, and beyond the seven-year terms of office of their next successors, as well as beyond the six-year terms of office of three Presidents of the Republic,” it added.

The SC also ruled that the power purchase cost “after compliance with the CSP shall retroact to the date of effectivity of the PSA, but in no case earlier than 30 June 2015, for purposes of passing the purchase cost to the consumers.”

The SC acted on a 2016 petition filed by the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas on 2016 that urged the SC to stop the ERC from approving a 20-year power supply agreement between utility giant Meralco and several general companies.

SC spokesperson Brian Hosaka also explained that the petition was questioning the ERC resolutions which postponed the implementation of the CSP.

The full copy of the court ruling has yet to be released as of this story’s posting.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Philippines and China effectively consigned to limbo on Thursday the UNCLOS-based arbitral ruling in 2016 on their maritime disputes, and moved to explore instead a wider Code of Conduct for resolving conflicts in the South China Sea.

It would be a betrayal of public trust should the Duterte administration accept China’s rejection of the landmark ruling that invalidated its sweeping claim over the South China Sea, parts of which is the West Philippine Sea, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said Saturday.